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Financial Frictions, Occupational Choice and Economic Inequality

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  • Allub, Lian
  • Erosa, Andrés

Abstract

We develop a quantitative theory of entrepreneurship, income inequality, and financial frictions disciplined with household data from Brazil. The theory extends Lucas (1978) by modeling heterogeneity in two skills: -working and managerial skills. Consistently with the evidence, the theory implies three occupational categories: workers, employers, and self-employed entrepreneurs. We find that the correlation between working and managerial skills matters importantly for the distribution of earnings across occupations and for the quantitative implications of financial frictions. We also find that while most households benefit from a reform that eliminates enforcement problems, the majority of employers (about two thirds) lose from the reform. By depressing the demand for labor, limited enforcement depresses the equilibrium wage rate, increasing the profits of employers. Our theory thus suggests that employers in Brazil may have a vested interested in maintaining a status quo with low enforcement.

Suggested Citation

  • Allub, Lian & Erosa, Andrés, 2012. "Financial Frictions, Occupational Choice and Economic Inequality," Research Department working papers 1024, CAF Development Bank Of Latinamerica.
    • Handle: RePEc:dbl:dblwop:1024
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    Cited by:

    1. Arbex Marcelo & Corrêa Márcio V. & Magalhães Marcos R. V., 2023. "Tolerance of Informality and Occupational Choices in a Large Informal Sector Economy," The B.E. Journal of Macroeconomics, De Gruyter, vol. 23(1), pages 241-278, January.
    2. Felix Wellschmied & Emircan Yurdagul, 2021. "Endogenous Hours and the Wealth of Entrepreneurs," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 39, pages 79-99, January.
    3. Jeremy Greenwood & Juan M. Sanchez & Cheng Wang, 2010. "Financing Development: The Role of Information Costs," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 100(4), pages 1875-1891, September.
    4. Luis Medrano‐Adán & Vicente Salas‐Fumás & Javier Sanchez‐Asin, 2024. "Organization of production and income inequality," Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 33(3), pages 582-604, August.
    5. Inés Berniell & Lucila Berniell & Dolores de la Mata & María Edo & Yarine Fawaz & Matilde P. Machado & Mariana Marchionni, 2025. "Motherhood and the allocation of talent," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 57(44), pages 7073-7089, September.
    6. Tanida Arayavechkit & Somprawin Manprasert & Jaree Pinthong, 2015. "Intertwining Inequality and Labor Market under the New Normal," PIER Discussion Papers 6., Puey Ungphakorn Institute for Economic Research, revised Oct 2015.
    7. Lian Allub & Pedro Gomes & Zoë Kuehn, 2024. "Human Capital and Financial Development: Firm-Level Interactions and Macroeconomic Implications," The Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 134(659), pages 934-958.
    8. Olena Ivus & Alireza Naghavi & Larry D. Qiu, 2023. "Migration and Imitation," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 90(357), pages 212-239, January.
    9. Bettina Brueggemann, 2016. "Higher Taxes at the Top: The Role of Entrepreneurs," 2016 Meeting Papers 332, Society for Economic Dynamics.
    10. Hill, Enoch & Perez-Reyna, David, 2017. "Financial development and occupational choice," Journal of Macroeconomics, Elsevier, vol. 54(PB), pages 393-409.
    11. Tanida Arayavechkit & Somprawin Manprasert & Jaree Pinthong, 2015. "Intertwining Inequality and Labor Market under the New Normal," PIER Discussion Papers 6, Puey Ungphakorn Institute for Economic Research.
    12. Francisco J. Buera & Joseph P. Kaboski & Yongseok Shin, 2015. "Entrepreneurship and Financial Frictions: A Macrodevelopment Perspective," Annual Review of Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 7(1), pages 409-436, August.
    13. Roberto Ramos & Manuel García-Santana & Jose Asturias, 2014. "Misallocation, Internal Trade, and the Role of Transportation Infrastructure," 2014 Meeting Papers 1035, Society for Economic Dynamics.
    14. Sang Yoon (Tim) Lee, 2019. "Entrepreneurs, managers and inequality," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 32, pages 42-67, April.
    15. Erosa, Andrés & Fuster, Luisa & Martinez, Tomás R., 2023. "Public financing with financial frictions and underground economy," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 135(C), pages 20-36.
    16. Alessandro Di Nola & Georgi Kocharkov & Almuth Scholl & Anna-Mariia Tkhir, 2021. "The Aggregate Consequences of Tax Evasion," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 40, pages 198-227, April.
    17. Kevin Donovan, 2014. "Subsistence Entrepreneurs and Misallocation," 2014 Meeting Papers 771, Society for Economic Dynamics.
    18. Gu, Jiajia, 2021. "Financial intermediation and occupational choice," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 133(C).
    19. Merlin, Giovanni Tondin, 2018. "Entrepreneurship, financial frictions and the welfare gains of business cycles," Textos para discussão 484, FGV EESP - Escola de Economia de São Paulo, Fundação Getulio Vargas (Brazil).
    20. Feng, Ying & Ren, Jie, 2023. "Skill bias, financial frictions, and selection into entrepreneurship," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 162(C).
    21. Inés Butler & Gabriela Galassi & Hernán Ruffo, 2016. "Public funding for startups in Argentina: an impact evaluation," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 46(2), pages 295-309, February.
    22. Luisa Fuster, 2022. "Macroeconomic and distributive effects of increasing taxes in Spain," SERIEs: Journal of the Spanish Economic Association, Springer;Spanish Economic Association, vol. 13(4), pages 613-648, December.

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